In Matthew 7 of God’s Holy Bible beginning with verse 13 we find Jesus of Nazareth teaching His disciples (then and now) about the importance of choosing the right foundation for their spiritual lives. In the previous posting I repeated His warning about those whom Satan would use to lead God-seekers in the wrong direction. See Bait and Switch. We pick up the narrative with Jesus describing “false prophets”–Satan-appointed “ministers of righteousness” who pose as God’s sheep but are in reality Satan’s “wolves.” We all know what wolves do to sheep. We begin this posting with Jesus telling us how to identify the devil’s wolves. Note: If their identity was obvious the Lord would not need to tell us how to identify them. Just as the Serpent of Eden easily deceived Adam and Eve, his ministers are equally as slick, smooth and persuasive. Proof: He has convinced over two billion people that they are worshiping and serving the Biblical God. And let us not forget the billions who lived in the past under the same assumption. See The Resurrections and Life After Death. Now let us learn how to identify Satan’s false prophets:

“You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?” The word “know” is of utmost importance. How do we KNOW that the words our ministers speak are from God? Jesus answers the question in John 8:32: “You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free” from the false truths spoken by false prophets. This seems simple enough–know God’s Truth and avoid Satan’s errors. However, there is a caveat when it comes to knowing God’s Truth as we learn in John 8:3o,31 where we find Jesus speaking to those “who believed in Him.” Then notice His first command to these believers: “IF YOU CONTINUE IN MY WORD, then (and only then) you will be My disciples indeed” (and will know the Truth). Here Jesus makes it abundantly clear that believing in Him has no value unless one “continues in” (believes and obeys) His Word. THEN, and only then, will the believer be His disciple “indeed” (in actuality). THEN, and only then, will the believer KNOW THE TRUTH/WORD. In John 17:17 Jesus equates God’s Word with the Truth. Here we find Him asking His Father to sanctify the disciples (set them aside for holy use) by His Word, which He calls “Truth.” To sanctify them meant to manifest His Word in and through them. To summarize Jesus’ Words: We know a minister is of God if he speaks God’s Words and lives them before the world.

Herein lies the prophet-identification problem that has spelled defeat for billions of God-seekers going back to Satan’s destruction of the Church of Eden. There were only two people in the first church and he took out both of them. His success rate has remained at or about that level throughout most of church history. Of the seven plus billion people living on earth today, less than one percent believe God’s Word and obey it. Some 2.2 billion are affiliated with Catholicism/Protestantism and the rest are either irreligious or are involved in one of Satan’s other religious groups. Jesus was right when He noted in Matthew 7:13 that FEW would find His strait gate and walk His narrow way that leads to His Father’s kingdom. MANY, He noted, would follow Satan. To be continued. L.J.